Donut Shop – MME Playbook for MLB DFS on FanDuel and DraftKings
I have been discussing in this article and in our members only Slack about a theory on how to approach MLB DFS and specifically a method to MME (mass multi-entry) for both FanDuel and DraftKings. It’s a method I created to basically diversify your portfolio in a low-risk fashion while boosting your potential ROI by having a dart or two hit the top of the standings.
Rather than trying to identify the top pitcher, hitters, or stacks and going with “heavy exposure” on said targets, we are going to set minimum exposures on specific targets and allow the optimizer to flex its muscles and take a non-biased approach as to who and what are the most optimal options.
This hopefully will allow us to have exposure to specific targets that allow us to have a handful of lineups that are “in the hunt” for the top of the standings if some of the top targets bottom out and sink most of your lineups.
Also – if you’re new to MLB DFS or the DFSA, then this page should be open in a separate tab every single day you plan on playing.
Let’s get to work!
Before we get started I want to share a personal accomplishment that I am very proud of. It took me a year of researching, licensing, and acquiring the right equipment, but I finally was able to publish my very first podcast and upload to Podbean and YouTube!
Download, like, subscribe and follow here: Podbean & YouTube
Episode 2 discusses a bit of MME strategy and the importance of how to celebrate Independence Day.
Pitchers for FanDuel
Kenta Maeda (COL 3.3 IRT, -167 Fav)
German Marquez (@LAD 4.3 IRT, +154 Dog)
Chris Sale (@NYY 3.9 IRT, -140 Fav)
Max Fried (@STL 4.6 IRT, +125 Dog)
Trevor Williams (@SD 3.9 IRT, +111 Dog)
Throw a minimum of 7-35% exposure to ensure that you have at least 10-50 out of your 150 lineups with each pitcher). The guys you like the most should be at 35% and the guys you only want minimal exposure to “just in case” just put at 7%. Everyone else should be somewhere in between those two extremes. Aim to keep your total exposure to less than 75% which gives the optimizer 25% wiggle room to add in the most optimal pitchers for the slate.
I.E. if you add up all the %’s of the pitchers, make sure the total exposure %’s you have created equal no more than 60%.
Pitchers for DraftKings
Kenta Maeda (COL 3.3 IRT, -167 Fav)
German Marquez (@LAD 4.3 IRT, +154 Dog)
Chris Sale (@NYY 3.9 IRT, -140 Fav)
Max Fried (@STL 4.6 IRT, +125 Dog)
Dereck Rodriguez (@ARI 4.5 IRT, +109 Dog)
Bartolo Colon (CWS 4.9 IRT, -116 Fav)
Luke Weaver (ATL 4.0 IRT, -135 Fav)
*EDIT* If you’re doing the 150-max entry contests on DraftKings then use the same exposure settings as I put down under the FanDuel categories. If not then follow the advice for the 20-max entries in each of the subsequent categories.
Throw a minimum of 20-40% exposure to ensure that you have at least 4-8 out of your 20 lineups with each pitcher). The guys you like the most put 40% exposure on and the guys you like the least throw 20% on. Everyone else is in between. Because DraftKings has two pitchers we want to total no more than 120% (out of 200%) for all pitchers listed.
I.E. If you add up your %’s on the pitchers, make sure the total exposure percentage isn’t over 120%.
Stacks for FanDuel
*EDIT* a couple notes prior to doing Stacks:
With the groupings, sometimes we run into issues where the percentages jam up the algorithm and it won’t produce as many lineups as you want. That’s okay, don’t fret. When this happens, simply just raise the number of lineups your trying to make and it will stretch out the wiggle room a bit more and allow the system to create more lineups. I.E., if you ask it to make 10 and it only makes 4, then ask it to make 20 and it likely will make 10 or close to. Just use what it gives you and don’t sweat being a few lineups too few or too many.
With the groupings, I only put a minimum percentage on my favorite 1 or 2 pitchers and only really put enough percent in to make sure they are each in 1 of the lineups I am asking the grouping to make. I.E. If Kershaw and Bieber are my favorite two on the slate, even though my pitching pool is 7 deep, I’ll put 10-20% on each of them if I were making a 10-lineup grouping. That way they’d both end up in 1-2 lineups each for that grouping.
*Groupings*
CWS *game stack*
TEX *game stack*
SEA
BOS
Take these above teams and run them at 4-4 stack settings for however many lineups you want out of your total lineups. Match each team with one another or whichever teams are your favorite on my group list.
*Stack Exposure*
With whatever lineups you have leftover after doing your groupings (let’s say you did 80 grouped lineups at 4-4 stacks out of 100, so we have 20 lineups left to make) use the below stack percentages and run it as a 3-4 stack
LAD
ATL
STL
ARI
SF
*******I prefer to run the 4-4 setting when doing specific groupings. I.E. I want the Rockies stacked for 10 lineups and I want the Yankees stacked with them for 5 of them and the Astros stacked with them for the other 5. So I would set the optimizer to 10 lineups, 2/3 unique (preferably 2 for this) and Rockies team stack at 100% exposure. Then I would set the Yanks and Astros at 50% each. Run the DS – Download the CSV – copy and paste these 10 lineups into 10 spots on your “final CSV upload” file.********
Practice today if you need to prior to the slate locking because this is the best way to use the DS. Combining specific groupings with the generic strategy I lay out in this article is the perfect blend of high upside and safer MME practice.
Stacks for DraftKings
*Groupings*
TEX* Game Stack
CWS* Game Stack
SF Game Stack
ARI Game Stack
BOS – Heavy exposure
Take these above teams and run them at 3-5 stack settings for however many lineups you want out of your total lineups. Match each team with one another or whichever teams are your favorite on my group list.
*Stack Exposure*
With whatever lineups you have leftover after doing your groupings (let’s say you did 80 grouped lineups at 4-4 stacks out of 100, so we have 20 lineups left to make) use the below stack percentages and run it as a 3-4 stack
SEA
SD
*******I prefer to run the 3-5 setting when doing specific groupings and general stacking. I.E. I want the Rockies stacked for 10 lineups and I want the Yankees stacked with them for 5 of them and the Astros stacked with them for the other 5. So I would set the optimizer to 10 lineups, 2/3 unique (preferably 2 for this) and Rockies team stack at 100% exposure. Then I would set the Yanks and Astros at 50% each. Run the DS – Download the CSV – copy and paste these 10 lineups into 10 spots on your “final CSV upload” file.********
Practice today if you need to prior to the slate locking because this is the best way to use the DS. Combining specific groupings with the generic strategy I lay out in this article is the perfect blend of high upside and safer MME practice.
Wrap it up, dude!
Alright, so applying all of this information and strategy can be overwhelming. I am going to make a very condensed list with specific steps to follow. If you want more detail then you’ll have to read over the article itself once more.
- Open Optimizer
- Set global max to 50% for all players
- Do not X out any player in the entire player pool (unless said player isn’t in the final lineup and the automatic update missed it – which is RARE)
- Click the pitcher category and slap a minimum percentage on all of the players I listed using the scale that I provide you with for both FanDuel and DraftKings
- Work on “groupings” of full 3-5 stacks on DK and full 4-4 stacks on FanDuel. Make sure you pair the top offenses with the second and third best or whomever you think is in a prime spot to blow up. I.E. set the stack to 3-5 and 10 lineups (out of let’s say 50), put 100% on Astros and 100% on the Rockies at home. You’ll end up with 10 lineups fully stacked with just those two teams. Do that repeatedly for as many teams you want to combine and full stacks you want to do.
- Throw min % on the stacks I have listed for the team itself at the generic 3-4 setting on FanDuel or 3-4 on DraftKings with however many lineups you have leftover that were not “grouped”. This means if you grouped 34 lineups out of your 50 then just do one generic CSV upload of the remaining 16 teams by using the above settings I have given you.
- Follow the steps in #9 and #12 if you need help running multiple files and copying and pasting.
- Win money
- Tag me on Twitter and in Slack with your triumphant victory!
- Read this very important page…
- Seriously, go read the page…
- Myself and my friend Ram2787 put together this tutorial for anybody who needs help with the DS optimizer and CSV files when using a Chromebook or operating system that’s giving you errors. CLICK ME CLICK ME!
- Subscribe to me on YouTube for podcasts/videos/and all things DFS!
The only way to continue to perfect an MME approach is to continue to fine tune it. This is still in the trial phase and in no way shape or forms a “perfect approach”. This process will likely be tweaked and manipulated as the season progresses and the DFS landscape shifts every so often as it normally does. As always, I will continue to share my findings with you in the hopes that we are able to find an edge over our competition!
Fortune favors the bold. Go make your own luck!
– Donuts